my story
by gemhedge
Summary: din't know what to call this
1. the meeting

It was a very stormy night, the wind blowing hard and the rain thrashing down. The lightning flashed and the thunder clashed. A young, orange hedgehog with a red top and light blue pants on, wearing two earrings in one ear and one in the other, made her way through the empty streets of station square.  
  
'I can't believe the rain came down so hard' She sighed and splashed right into a puddle. She could feel the water drenching her sock. 'Perfect. Exactly what I wanted'  
  
She took cover in a telephone box. She took off her trainer and sock, and then rang it out, hopefully, to dry it a bit. She muttered and cursed under her breath. A flash of lighting made her jump. She held her wet sock close to her. She gasped, putting her sock back on along with her trainer, and then raced out into the pouring rain.  
  
A few blocks later she came to her friend's house.  
  
'I hope she's in. If she's not, I'll have to go somewhere else till the storm stops'  
  
She rapped lightly on the door. It opened and a very gothic hedgehog stood before her.  
  
"Gem! What brings you here in the middle of this storm?"  
  
"I need a place to crash. At least till the storm dies down." Gem explained  
  
"Uhm, ok. You better come in and dry off. You look like a drowned rat"  
  
"Thanks a lot Gothika"  
  
"No problem"  
  
Gothika, Gem's best friend, was a darkish red hedgehog with a lighter red pattern top on, black pants with flame pattern on the bottom of the legs and slightly heeled boots. She always wore black eye shadow and two dog collars, one on the neck and one on her tail. Her appearance to some was slightly startling, but Gem looked past that.  
  
"Here use this towel to dry off. If you look in my cupboard there's some spare clothes. Put them on and I'll make you a cup of hot chocolate"  
  
"Thank you. I think I'd better get changed in the bathroom. Don't you? "  
  
"Well, of course. I don't expect you to get changed in the doorway!"  
  
Gem entered the bathroom. She dried her quills with the towel, taking off her soggy clothes and putting on the spare ones Gothika had lent her. She pulled slightly at the top, realising it was a bit big, and baggy, on her. Her orange and brown quills dripped on the pink tiled floor. 'God. She calls herself a Goth with a pink bathroom.'  
  
"Gem! Are you ok?!"  
  
"Uhm.... yeah fine"  
  
"Well your cocoa is down here"  
  
"Right, thanks." Gem unlocked the bathroom door and laid the towel on the banister. She made her way down the stairs, taking everything in around her. It was a fair darkish house with very many devilish looking ornaments. As she looked into the front room something caught her eye. It was a green looking gem on a chain. It was beautiful. As Gem stared at it, she could have sworn it had glimmered at her. Before she knew what she was doing she was holding it delicately; fearing if she held it too hard it would shatter. Gothika popped her head around the corner  
  
"Uhm, Gem"  
  
She jumped "Aagghh" She screamed, dropping the gem on the floor, causing it to break into thousands of small pieces.  
  
"Oh no! I'm so sorry." She picked up the tiny pieces; making sure she didn't miss any.  
  
"Look what you've done!"  
  
"I am just so...so sorry it just slipped out of my hand. You scared me and...and I'm so sorry!"  
  
"Relax. It's fine. I know you didn't mean too"  
  
"Let me try and fix it"  
  
"If you want too. But it was for you any way"  
  
"Really?" Gem looked at the pieces of gem in her hands. Her bracelets dangled, two on each arm, as she put the shards into a small leather bag and pocketed it.  
  
As they drank their cocoa, watching TV, a bulletin came on  
  
"This is a special announcement from the headquarters of G.U.N"  
  
"G.U.N" Gem and Gothika said together  
  
"What are they whinging about now?" Gothika exclaimed, sipping the last of her cocoa.  
  
Gem held her cup close to her chest; feeling the heat from it. She was more worried about this than Gothika was.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is an important announcement"  
  
Gem looked upon the screen to see a photo of a midnight hedgehog with crimson markings and a splash of white fur just below the chin, He seemed very cute to Gem, but according to the broadcast he was very dangerous and he was on the loose. She wasn't listening to it fully. The orange hedgehog was gazing into his crimson eyes 'Look at them so pained and angry' She thought.  
  
"God. He must have done something very bad to have G.U.N after him, eh?" She flicked the TV off, bringing Gem back to her senses  
  
"Eh? What was that?"  
  
"Never mind. Whoa, look at the time. You'd better get going before it gets dark"  
  
"Yeah I'd better. I'll get my clothes from upstairs, get changed and I'll be gone" Gem re-entered the bathroom, changed back into her semi-dry clothes and, with a good bye from Gothika, was gone, heading home. It was still raining slightly. Gem made her way down a dark alley. The hedgehog rubbed her arms, unable to stop the chill that ran up her spine. She kept looking behind her, feeling as if she was being followed, but whenever she looked back she saw nothing but an empty alley. With a sigh Gem kept walking. All the time she continued to feel as if she was being watched. A loud noise from behind made Gem break into a run, wanting nothing more than to get home. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, sapphire eyes closed. She could hear the sound of footsteps. Heart leaping in to her throat, she tried to run faster, but the sound of the footsteps were close behind her. She'd never be able to outrun it. Spinning herself around the corner of another alley, she stood flat against the wall. She held her chest, trying to ease her pounding heart, gasping for breath. She looked around the corner, in hope to see if she had lost her pursuer. Nothing. Gem stood there looking down the dark alley, when she felt an odd sensation. One she didn't like. Without warning a hand wrapped around her mouth. A scream escaped Gem's lips, but was muffled. No-one heard it; someone grabbed her torso and dragged her into the empty alley, the one she had just hidden in and slammed her into the wall, hard. Gem had closed her eyes when the hand wrapped around her mouth. She opened them and looked into a hedgehog's face. It was the same one she had seen on the news announcement. Her eyes widened in shock, as she struggled in the hedgehog's grip, unable to break free. Gem tried everything; kicking, struggling and yelling, but all came to no effect. Tired, she stopped, looking up into those crimson eyes seeing nothing, but pain and anger  
  
"Are you going to shut up if I let go?" The hedgehog asked.  
  
Gem was startled to hear the hedgehog's voice so deep and soothing. She nodded her head.  
  
"Fine, but if you scream. I will kill you, you know that?" He removed his hand slowly from Gem's lips. She tried hard to keep the scream from welling up inside of her. A small whimper escaped. The hedgehog may have removed his hand from her mouth, but his grip on the rest of her was unwavering. Gripping tightly at her arms the black hedgehog spoke again in his cool, deep, soothing voice.  
  
"Now what do we have here. A young, pretty, orange hedgehog. What's your name?"  
  
"...Gem." She whispered, so quietly, that there was no way he'd have heard it  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Gem. My names Gem and you're hurting my arms"  
  
The hedgehog gripped tighter on her arms. She gasped in pain.  
  
"Ow! Let go please!" Gem began to kick again, getting no reaction at all from the black hedgehog. She couldn't help it, she began to scream.  
  
"I did warn you!" The hedgehog pulled a blade out and held it very close to Gem's throat. She gulped shutting up. The frightened orange hedgehog peered up at the black one and from the corner of her eye she saw a van come to a halt.  
  
"Oh no! How did they find me?" Shadow exclaimed. Gem was confused. He seemed frightened. Who were they? She then realised the hedgehog's grip on her had lessened. She broke free from him, but he wasn't paying attention to her. The hedgehog was focused on the approaching men in uniform. On the arm of one of the men Gem made out the letters "G.U.N"  
  
"He's over here!" She heard one of them say  
  
'Should I just stand here? Shouldn't I help him?' She turned to the frightened hedgehog, who was backing away slowly from the approaching officers. "Who are you?" Gem asked. All of a sudden, from behind the midnight hedgehog, another van appeared. He was trapped, with no where to go.  
  
"What am I going to do?" She could hear him mutter. Officers approached from all sides of him, carrying guns with them. None of them seemed to notice Gem standing there, looking completely bewildered. One of the G.U.N men raised his gun, took aim and fired. It hit the midnight hedgehog. A small dart hung out of Shadow's arm. He pulled it out, but Gem knew it was too late. Moments later, after pulling the dart out of his arm, he fell over, half conscious. Gem had to know who he was. As they dragged his limp body away, she stepped forward.  
  
"STOP!" Gem cried running in front of them "I can't let you take him!"  
  
"Get out of the way kid!" Commanded one of the G.U.N officers. The black hedgehog opened his crimson eyes half way, to see that the girl he'd just threatened to kill was actually trying to help him.  
  
"I'm sorry but I must insist you let him go!"  
  
"Get her out of here!" Two men walked forward grabbing her sore arms and pulled her out of the way  
  
"LET ME GO!" She screamed. Everything went quiet. The G.U.N officers all looked at Gem, her pocket was glowing. The little bag with the shards of gem in rose from her pocket and was floating in mid air in front of her. The two men who were holding her let go and backed away. Gem peered at the bag as it ripped open before her eyes and a bright light illuminated from it. She shielded her sapphire eyes and when she looked again the gem was whole, glowing brightly in front of her. Everyone was backing away from her. She closed her eyes, but when she opened them again they were blank. Sapphire orbs, not touched with the blackness. The orange hedgehog reached out slowly, as if hypnotised, and touched the gem. The chain from the gem rose up and looped over her head. She let go of it, but it still remained suspended in mid-air. She then spoke, in a voice not at all like her own. It was deeper and echoed, seeming as if it was coming from everywhere.  
  
"Release him at once!" Many of the men looked around. Thinking that there was more than one person speaking.  
  
"Release him or I shall take him with force." They raised their guns and aimed them at her  
  
"So be it!" Gem lifted her hand and many of the men began to levitate. They kicked and yelled, at the people on the ground, to get them down. She pointed at the wall and they were smashed into it. They lay crumpled up in a heap, not one of them moved, or shall move again. Gem peered at the remaining men. Her sapphire eyes glittered. As a smile appeared across her face, making her look truly insane. Disposing the rest of the officers was an easy task. She then turned her attention to the black hedgehog, who was fully unconscious now. She bent down, lifted him up and his head fell backwards. Gem carried him all the way to her house, which she should never have been able to do. She gently laid him on the sofa and collapsed to the floor. Never sure of exactly what had happened, but she was going to wake up to a bit of a shock in the morning. The gem around her neck shone dimly in the light of the setting moon. It's control wearing off. 


	2. my story continued

"Uhm Gem?" someone was prodding her. She opened her sapphire eyes looking into the face of her sister Sophia, a fox  
  
"Eh? Where am I?" Gem sat up, unaware of what had happened the night before. A groan came from the sofa. The orange hedgehog looked at the sofa and saw the black hedgehog sit up, rubbing his head. It took Gem a minute to remember him. When she did, she jumped to her feet and grabbed a pair of scissors from the table next to her and thrust them near the hedgehog's throat, actually touching his throat with the blade. He tried to back away, but if he moved back any further he'd fall off the sofa. He could be in trouble then. She might slit his throat. A cold sweat wet his fur slightly, unnoticeably.  
  
"You better tell me who the hell you are?!" Exclaimed Gem. The midnight hedgehog scowled and answered.  
  
"Why should I?" Gem pressed the blade a little harder on the hedgehog's throat  
  
"Fine! The name's Shadow and I'm the ultimate lifeform"  
  
"Ha! You expect me to believe that rubbish"  
  
"It's the truth. I swear"  
  
"Yeah right, and I'm the queen of Scotland"  
  
"Fine. You don't have to believe me. But I'm NOT lying!"  
  
Sophia spoke up. "Gem I don't think he's lying"  
  
"Ok then" Gem pulled the scissors away from Shadow's throat, he relaxed. She turned around to face him  
  
"But one false move and I WILL kill you!" Gem threatened, holding the scissors close to him again, and then pulled it away. Shadow, for his part, was startled at this sudden behaviour from his 'rescuer'. It was as if she didn't remember what had happened last night. He couldn't remember either, but he did know one thing. She had saved him from G.U.N and he owed her. As Gem walked towards the kitchen, Shadow said something she never expected.  
  
"Thank you for helping me" Gem froze. She didn't believe what she'd just heard. She turned round and looked at Shadow  
  
"You're welcome. Are you hungry?" Gem asked. A loud rumble from Shadow's stomach answered her  
  
"I'll take that as a yes" she giggled. Gem went into the kitchen and made all three of them breakfast. It wasn't much, just cereal and toast. But the black hedgehog was so grateful.  
  
"So tell me more about yourself. You know, where you come from, that sort of thing" Shadow swallowed the bit of toast in his mouth.  
  
"Well I came from ARK"  
  
"ARK. What, and where, is that?" The hedgehog told her everything up to the part where he met her  
  
"And there you have it"  
  
"Wow. You really saved the world?" Sophia asked flabbergasted  
  
"Yes, along with Sonic" Gem wasn't sure about something  
  
"Hang on. You said you fell from the ARK"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"But according to you. That's in space"  
  
"So? What's your point?"  
  
"Well you should be dead. How the hell did you survive?!"  
  
"I...I can't remember"  
  
"You can't remember?" Gem repeated. She was puzzled 'how could he have survived that fall and exactly what happened last night'. She was so lost in thought that she never noticed Shadow's hand waving in front of her face. She blinked looking at Shadow  
  
"Gem? Gem?"  
  
"Hmm? What is it?"  
  
"What's that around your neck?"  
  
"Oh this, Gothika gave it me. I don't know what it is"  
  
"May I look at it?"  
  
"Ok, but be careful with it." Gem took it off her neck and handed it to Shadow. He held it carefully  
  
"Where did she get this?"  
  
"Who knows? Why?"  
  
"Well, I think it could be part of a chaos emerald, but I'll need someone who knows the emeralds better than me to be sure"  
  
"Really? Who's that?"  
  
"Knuckles"  
  
"And...Who's that?"  
  
"A friend. He looks after the chaos emeralds on Angel Island." Suddenly there was a knock on the door.  
  
"I'll get it"  
  
"Thanks Sophia"  
  
Gem and Shadow listened to Sophia get the door  
  
"Yeah, she's here let me just get her" Sophia popped her head around the door.  
  
"Gem. There's someone at the door for you." Teased Sophia.  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"Come and see for yourself"  
  
"Oh, alright then" Gem went to the door, passing her sister, who was giggling.  
  
"Hell........oh" Standing there was shade, a friend from school. Gem had a huge crush on him, not for his looks, but for the fact that he makes her laugh and makes her feel loved. She liked him for his personality.  
  
"Hey, Gem. I came to see if you were ok. Bad storm last night, eh?  
  
"Y...yes it was" 'Get a hold of yourself girl' thought Gem.  
  
"Come in"  
  
"Thanks" Shade was a black fox with crimson markings in the top corner of his eyes. He wore a light blue top with darker blue jeans on. He often wore sunglasses. His ruby eyes almost glittered in the sun. Gem liked him. She never admitted it, but she did. His long black and red tail brushed against her face, it was soft to the touch and it was very bushy. That's the way he liked it.  
  
Gem asked "So, Shade. What brings you here?"  
  
"Well I was in the area, so I thought I'd......" He was cut off, seeing Shadow.  
  
"Who is this Gem?" Shade asked  
  
"Who? Oh that's Shadow, he's my friend"  
  
"I see." Shade narrowed his eyes. He then walked up to Shadow, who was watching him very carefully. He stopped right in front of the hedgehog and stuck out his hand in friendship.  
  
"Nice to meet you" Shadow was hesitant at first to shake Shade's hand, slowly, he took his hand.  
  
"Nice to meet you too" Shadow answered. Shade squeezed his hand slightly, making the hedgehog pull away.  
  
"Shade! Be nice. He's had a rough night....." Gem shouted, putting her hand on her forehead.  
  
"Ow. And so have I" She rubbed her head, feeling very dizzy. Gem held onto the table to support her  
  
"Gem are you ok?!" Shade and Shadow asked together.  
  
"I...I don't know. I feel very dizzy. The room seems to be spinning" Shade took her hand and led her to one of the chairs. She sat down carefully. Her gem was glowing brightly. She groaned. Her head was pounding badly. Shadow watched the gem glow. As he watched he was shocked. Gem had begun to feel dizzy, when the gem began to glow.  
  
"Ow. It hurts. What's happening?"  
  
"It's the gem. It's effecting you" Shade looked at him, his hands on gem's shoulders.  
  
"What gem?"  
  
"This one" Shadow held the green gem and showed it to the black fox. The orange hedgehog looked deeply at Shadow and snatched the gem off him. He took note of her blank sapphire eyes. Gem looped it around her neck, standing up  
  
"Gem. Are you ok?" Shade asked, pulling his hands away from her  
  
"Whoa, take it easy pretty boy" Shadow said. The fox scowled. Gem peered at the three of them. Sophia whimpered softly. Shade touched Gem lightly on the arm. She glanced at him. A shudder ran up his spine at the sight of her eyes, blank sapphire orbs. The fox backed away.  
  
"Do not touch me mortal!" Gem said in an echoed voice. She raised her hand, and Shade was raised up into the air  
  
"Aagghhh! Gem what are you doing?" Shade exclaimed. Shadow ran at her, ramming into her shoulder, causing the hedgehog to fly across the room into a cupboard. As soon as Shadow rammed into Gem, Shade was dropped onto the floor with a bang. All three of them stared at Gem's limp body.  
  
"Gem?!" Sophia called out, almost crying. Shade turned sharply to Shadow, staring daggers at him. Shadow was surprised.  
  
"Look at what You've done! She's DEAD!"  
  
"If I hadn't done what I did. She would have killed you!"  
  
"GEM!" Sophia began to cry. Suddenly Gem began to move. She rose her head up slowly. She turned to her friends. Her eyes were normal, but they had a very exhausted expression. As Shadow approached, she collapsed.  
  
"GEM..." The three of them shouted. Shadow picked up the orange hedgehog and gently stroked her soft orange and brown quills.  
  
"We need to get her to Knuckles"  
  
"Who the hell is he?"  
  
"I'll explain on the way" He turned to the little fox. Her eyes red with crying.  
  
"You'll have to stay here, ok?"  
  
She nodded her head and asked. "Is my sister going to be ok?"  
  
"Of course Sophia" Shade answered holding the little fox close to him. She cried softly gripping his shirt gently.  
  
"You've got to be brave for your sister. She'll be back before you know it" The black fox said with a smile, before turning to Shadow. He was waiting patiently for him. Gem's body lay in his arms. She looked so innocent. Shade completely forgot she nearly killed him. The hedgehog's face brightened up by the sun shining through the windows. He'd just realised how much he really liked her.  
  
"Shall we be going then?" Shadow asked him  
  
"Yes. The sooner, the better"  
  
"Well let's go then..." He said, heaving Gem's body in his arms a little  
  
"She isn't exactly light, you know" And with that Shade opened the door for Shadow and they both went out into the open. The sun was high in the sky. Shadow looked at the black fox.  
  
"Hope you can keep up with me"  
  
"Shouldn't be too much of a challenge"  
  
"We'll see...We'll see"  
  
And with that they both raced off towards Angel Island. Gem's little sister remained stood in the door way and watched them race off into the distance.  
  
"I hope you'll be ok Gem. I really do." 


	3. off to Angel island1

"Let's face it. We're lost!"  
  
"No we are not lost! I know exactly where we are going, Rat Face!" Insulted Shadow  
  
"HEY WATCH WHO YOU'RE CALLING RAT FACE! PORCUPINE BREATH!"  
  
"Or else what? You want a fight?!"  
  
"Bring it on!" Shade was starting to get on Shadow's nerves. He was about to show the fox a thing or two, when Gem groaned, they froze.  
  
"Is she waking?" Shade asked. Shadow peered at the fox  
  
"How am I supposed to know?" Shadow answered. The orange hedgehog shuffled uncomfortably in the black hedgehog's arms. "Gem? Are you alright?" She didn't answer; she only fell deeper into what seemed to be a very deep slumber.  
  
"Guess not." Shade sighed. "Well, shall we continue?"  
  
"I suppose so" Shadow answered. They continued to, what they hoped, was Angel Island. All of a sudden it went dead quiet.  
  
"Something's not right here" The midnight hedgehog stated.  
  
"What is it?" Asked Shade.  
  
"Not sure, but even though I haven't been on this planet long, it's never been this quiet." As the pair of them listened into the dead silence, Shade's ears began to perk; since he was a fox he could pick up sound quicker than Shadow.  
  
"Something's coming this way!"  
  
"What is it?" The hedgehog asked eagerly.  
  
"Not sure. It sounds a lot like wind, but different, y'know?"  
  
"Wind?" Shadow thought for a moment, and then an image popped into his head. "Maybe it's him" He muttered.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"A sort of friend. Here take Gem." Shadow shoved the limp hedgehog into Shade's arms.  
  
"Where are you going?!"  
  
"To catch a hedgehog" Shadow said slyly, as he rushed off at a speed he wouldn't have been capable of without his modified shoes.  
  
"Catch a hedgehog?" Shade repeated, confused. He looked at Gem's face; it looked so peaceful, as if she was no more than in a peaceful sleep. She wasn't. Gem was having an awful nightmare, but it seemed so life like, so real. She was running from a spirit of some sort, with no fixed form, just a cloud of mist with dark yellow eyes. They were glowing at her, as if mocking her for her fear.  
  
"Leave me alone!" She cried, her voice echoing in the blackness of her mind. She could hear its laugh all around her.  
  
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Gem screamed. Its laugh grew so loud it hurt. She fell to her knees, holding her ears  
  
"Please, stop! It hurts..." She begged as it drew nearer, its eyes glowing brightly. "Please!" The hedgehog began to sob. It began to talk.  
  
"You're going to be mine forever, trapped, as I remain free to take over your body!" It looked around. Gem could do nothing but listen. Her panic began to rise. "It won't be long now!" It touched her face. 'It's so cold' Gem thought. 'Please somebody help'  
  
"Gem..." Shade gently rubbed the orange hedgehog's head. Her face had changed. It now looked as if she was in serious pain, and all Shade could do was watch her suffer. "Please hurry Shadow"  
  
Somewhere else, Shadow was searching. His eyes were alert. He spotted a gust of dust only a few miles ahead. He decided to follow it. Shadow put his shoes through their paces, trying to keep up with the thing in front. It began to slow and he caught up with it. 'Where has he taken me?' Shadow thought. He had entered a huge city. Then Shadow saw him. It was Sonic. He was talking to Rouge about something.  
  
"Yeah, I miss him too. But he's gone. There's nothing we can do" Sonic said  
  
"I know that, but I miss him so much." Rouge was crying, holding something in her hands. Shadow decided to surprise them.  
  
"Hey faker. You're not talking about me, are you?"  
  
"Shadow?!" Rouge smiled and Sonic's expression was hard to read.  
  
"What's up faker? You not happy to see me?" asked Shadow  
  
"Not sure about that." Sonic was trying to hide the fact he had missed the hedgehog.  
  
"Well happy or not, I need your help"  
  
"My help? What for? I mean can't the ultimate lifeform handle everything"  
  
"Don't even start Sonic. All I need is for you to show me where Angel Island is"  
  
"Knuckle's place. What you wanna go there for?"  
  
"I need his help. For a friend." Shadow was about to lose his temper with Sonic. His cocky look was too much for him. He'd seen it before and the only thing it had gained Sonic was a good kicking. Sonic could see could see that it annoyed the hedgehog. He smirked.  
  
"That is it, you pathetic faker!" Shadow rushed at the blue hedgehog, fists clenched. He was going to hurt him, bad, when Rouge suddenly got in the way,  
  
"Stop it the pair of you!" Rouge warned. "Shadow, who needs Knuckle's help, and why?"  
  
"A hedgehog named Gem; she saved me from G.U.N......"  
  
"How?" Sonic interrupted.  
  
"Don't know, but she has this gem around her neck. She went crazy and nearly killed Shade..."  
  
"Who?" Sonic interrupted again  
  
"Shade, a fox who looks a bit like me, with the same colouring of his fur"  
  
"Uhm...that's strange Shadow..." Rouge said "but continue."  
  
"Well I rammed her into a cupboard....."  
  
"That is so you Shadow!" Sonic teased  
  
"Shut your mouth hedgehog and let me continue..." He was quickly losing his temper with Sonic again. "She woke up and collapsed again, it's just, before she went crazy, the gem was glowing. The thing is it looks like part of a chaos emerald!"  
  
"You finished yapping yet?!"  
  
"SHUT UP!" Shadow shouted. Rouge listened and, hearing the part about the chaos emeralds, caught her attention fully 'Chaos emeralds. That girl has a chaos emerald!' Rouge thought.  
  
"Are you going to help me or what?" Shadow asked. Sonic looked at Rouge  
  
"What do you think?" he asked  
  
"I think we should help her"  
  
"O.k. then" Sonic said. He looked at the hedgehog. He thought he saw a flash of a smile, but when he blinked it was gone.  
  
"Thank you" The black hedgehog said  
  
"Well we can't just stand here. Let's go!"  
  
"Where is that damn hedgehog?" The fox muttered, stroking Gem's fine quills; they were wet from sweat. The fox laid her in the shade of a tree and went to find some water to cool her off with, hoping not to be too long. Gem was shuffling, trying to wake up. She was struggling with the thing in her mind: she couldn't let it win, and she couldn't let it take over her. But it was hard, and she was scared.  
  
"I won't let you beat me!" Gem cried into the darkness; her voice echoed around her. She felt trapped with no way out. The only way was to except and to let the thing win, but she wasn't about to give up her freedom that easily.  
  
"There's no point fighting, I will win!" She heard it hiss  
  
"NO! I... won't... give...up!" She struggled, getting weaker. Whether she liked it or not, eventually it will win. Gem didn't have a hope in the world of winning. All she could do was fight, until someone helped her.  
  
"Here we go Gem. I found some water" Shade had returned with fresh cold water in a flask for her, only to find nothing had changed. He ripped a bit of his shirt, dipped it in the water and wiped her face. She gasped, eyelids flickering, tossing slightly, then returning into a painful slumber. The fox watched her helplessly  
  
"Where are you Shadow?" Not long after he'd said that, he could hear that same sound as before. Shade stood up seeing a cloud of dust heading right for him and Gem. The Orange hedgehog opened her eyes; she'd won the battle for now. Gasping she pulled herself to her feet, looking around, puzzled and afraid. She saw Shade and wrapped her arms around him.  
  
"AAGGHH!" He jumped making Gem release him. She started backing away, confused. Shade looked at her. His ears folded back in worry, not sure how to respond.  
  
"What's wrong?" She asked  
  
"Gem, are you alright?" He asked.  
  
"I'm fine. Are you ok?"  
  
"I'm ok, but what happened. You freaked out back there"  
  
"I... I don't know, but when I passed out, something happened. A ghost of some sort tried to take over me, control my body, leaving me trapped in my mind forever. I narrowly made it out of there. I think it's because of this..." She stated fingering the Gem around her neck. She tried to take it off  
  
"It... it won't come off, Shade. Help me!" The fox tried to pull it off with no luck  
  
"It's bloody stuck on you" Shade exclaimed. Gem began to panic.  
  
"What am I going to do?!" Shade looked around saw the dust still coming  
  
"Sit tight. I think Shadow's coming back"  
  
"Okay, but I'm scared of this thing. It's haunting me." Her eyes were red from crying. "I don't want to hurt anyone again" Shade wrapped his arms around her.  
  
"Shhh. It'll be okay. I promise." Gem nuzzled her face against his chest, gripping at his shirt, crying  
  
"I'm scared." She whispered  
  
"I know you are, but you've got to be brave"  
  
"What's going on here then?" Someone said. Gem looked at a blue hedgehog standing next to Shadow, there was also a white bat with blue eye shadow on. She was very pretty. The fox stared at the new people recognising one of them.  
  
"Hey, you're Sonic the hedgehog!"  
  
"Yep that's me..." Sonic said. He spotted Gem. "And who is this?" He asked bending down in front of her. Sonic wiped the tears from Gem's cheeks. His touch was soft and gentle. She saw Shadow and, breaking Shade's embrace, ran into his arms  
  
"Oh Shadow, I was so scared. There's this thing in my mind and it wanted to take over me. I was so frightened." Shadow could do nothing except put his arms around the hedgehog and try to comfort her. Shade stood up peering at Shadow. He narrowed his eyes.  
  
"There, there Gem. It's O.K." Shadow exclaimed  
  
"Don't let it take over me. I don't want to hurt anyone. Please Shadow"  
  
"I promise I won't let it" He looked at Sonic, who was snickering, and then to Rouge, who shrugged.  
  
"I'm so frightened." She said burying her face in his fur. Shade scowled  
  
"Well, let's not waste anymore time"  
  
"Fox boy's right! If you wanna get to Angel Island, we better hurry. It'll be dark soon" Stated Sonic, his eyes on the sun, which was steadily setting behind the trees. Making day become night  
  
"I can see in the dark because I'm a bat, so we can still keep going even when it's night" Stated Rouge.  
  
"I suppose Rouge, but..." Shadow peered at Gem who was still holding on to him nuzzling into his fur. "What about Gem. Should she really travel at night?"  
  
"Don't know. Ask her?"  
  
"Gem..." She looked at Shadow, eyes teary and red "What do you think?"  
  
"I don't care. The sooner I get this thing off, the better"  
  
"Then that's settled!" Rouge clapped her hands. "We keep going!"  
  
"Are you lot finished gabbing, I want to go already!" Stated Sonic, impatiently.  
  
"Don't be so inpatient Sonic!"  
  
"Ok Rouge. Can we PLEASE go now?!" He asked sarcastically  
  
"Of course we can." Gem answered, scowling slightly. 'Impatient Git' She thought.  
  
"Well come on then" And with that Sonic sped off towards the setting sun  
  
"Wait for us!" 


End file.
